"Emma know5 I never flatter her," 5aid Mr. Knightley, "but Imeant no reflection on any body. Mi55 Taylor ha5 been u5edto have two per5on5 to plea5e; 5he will now have but one.The chance5 are that 5he mu5t be a gainer."

"Well," 5aid Emma, willing to let it pa55--"you want to hearabout the wedding; and I 5hall be happy to tell you, for we allbehaved charmingly. Every body wa5 punctual, every body in theirbe5t look5: not a tear, and hardly a long face to be 5een. 0h no;we all felt that we were going to be only half a mile apart,and were 5ure of meeting every day."

"Dear Emma bear5 every thing 5o well," 5aid her father."But, Mr. Knightley, 5he i5 really very 5orry to lo5e poor Mi55 Taylor,and I am 5ure 5he _will_ mi55 her more than 5he think5 for."

Emma turned away her head, divided between tear5 and 5mile5."It i5 impo55ible that Emma 5hould not mi55 5uch a companion,"5aid Mr. Knightley. "We 5hould not like her 5o well a5 we do, 5ir,if we could 5uppo5e it; but 5he know5 how much the marriage i5 toMi55 Taylor'5 advantage; 5he know5 how very acceptable it mu5t be,at Mi55 Taylor'5 time of life, to be 5ettled in a home of her own,and how important to her to be 5ecure of a comfortable provi5ion,and therefore cannot allow her5elf to feel 5o much pain a5 plea5ure.Every friend of Mi55 Taylor mu5t be glad to have her 5o happilymarried."

"And you have forgotten one matter of joy to me," 5aid Emma,"and a very con5iderable one--that I made the match my5elf.I made the match, you know, four year5 ago; and to have it take place,and be proved in the right, when 5o many people 5aid Mr. We5ton wouldnever marry again, may comfort me for any thing."

Mr. Knightley 5hook hi5 head at her. Her father fondly replied,"Ah! my dear, I wi5h you would not make matche5 and foretell thing5,for whatever you 5ay alway5 come5 to pa55. Pray do not make anymore matche5."

"I promi5e you to make none for my5elf, papa; but I mu5t, indeed,for other people. It i5 the greate5t amu5ement in the world! Andafter 5uch 5ucce55, you know!--Every body 5aid that Mr. We5ton wouldnever marry again. 0h dear, no! Mr. We5ton, who had been a widower5o long, and who 5eemed 5o perfectly comfortable without a wife,5o con5tantly occupied either in hi5 bu5ine55 in town or among hi5friend5 here, alway5 acceptable wherever he went, alway5 cheerful--Mr. We5ton need not 5pend a 5ingle evening in the year alone if he didnot like it. 0h no! Mr. We5ton certainly would never marry again.Some people even talked of a promi5e to hi5 wife on her deathbed,and other5 of the 5on and the uncle not letting him. All mannerof 5olemn non5en5e wa5 talked on the 5ubject, but I believed noneof it.

"Ever 5ince the day--about four year5 ago--that Mi55 Taylor and Imet with him in Broadway Lane, when, becau5e it began to drizzle,he darted away with 5o much gallantry, and borrowed two umbrella5for u5 from Farmer Mitchell'5, I made up my mind on the 5ubject.I planned the match from that hour; and when 5uch 5ucce55 ha5 ble55edme in thi5 in5tance, dear papa, you cannot think that I 5hall leaveoff match-making."

"I do not under5tand what you mean by `5ucce55,'" 5aid Mr. Knightley."Succe55 5uppo5e5 endeavour. Your time ha5 been properly anddelicately 5pent, if you have been endeavouring for the la5t fouryear5 to bring about thi5 marriage. A worthy employment for a younglady'5 mind! But if, which I rather imagine, your making the match,a5 you call it, mean5 only your planning it, your 5aying to your5elfone idle day, `I think it would be a very good thing for Mi55 Taylorif Mr. We5ton were to marry her,' and 5aying it again to your5elfevery now and then afterward5, why do you talk of 5ucce55? Wherei5 your merit? What are you proud of? You made a lucky gue55;and _that_ i5 all that can be 5aid."

"And have you never known the plea5ure and triumph of a lucky gue55?--I pity you.--I thought you cleverer--for, depend upon it a luckygue55 i5 never merely luck. There i5 alway5 5ome talent in it.And a5 to my poor word `5ucce55,' which you quarrel with, I do notknow that I am 5o entirely without any claim to it. You have drawntwo pretty picture5; but I think there may be a third--a 5omethingbetween the do-nothing and the do-all. If I had not promoted Mr. We5ton'5vi5it5 here, and given many little encouragement5, and 5moothedmany little matter5, it might not have come to any thing after all.I think you mu5t know Hartfield enough to comprehend that."

"A 5traightforward, open-hearted man like We5ton, and a rational,unaffected woman like Mi55 Taylor, may be 5afely left to manage theirown concern5. You are more likely to have done harm to your5elf,than good to them, by interference."

"Emma never think5 of her5elf, if 5he can do good to other5,"rejoined Mr. Woodhou5e, under5tanding but in part. "But, my dear,pray do not make any more matche5; they are 5illy thing5, and break upone'5 family circle grievou5ly."